Falling Again
by SimplyCatitude
Summary: He's been dating her for six years. All it takes is a little black butterfly to send him back to the beginning. Adrienette Time Travel AU
1. Chapter 1

**Falling Again; Chapter One**

 _"Being with you and not being with you is the only way I have to measure time."_

― Jorge Luis Borges

 ** _Paris 2026 – Ten years in the future_**

'This is Alya, coming to you live from the scene of an akuma attack. This one calls herself Hourglass, but as a true hourglass figured woman, I'd say she was a bit more pear shaped?'

Ladybug groaned, listening to the broadcast through her earpiece. Alya's clever tongue was going to get her in trouble one of these days. She could hear Chat Noir chuckling.

'The heroes of Paris are no doubt on their way, but if they're listening-'

Ladybug rolled her eyes as she swung onto the rooftop. Alya knew they were listening. That was why she had the annoying earpiece to begin with.

The akuma victim was female, with a tan coloured body suit and dark brown boots. On her chest was the image of an hourglass - clearly her namesake.

'-I can tell you that this particular akuma seems to be freezing people? But not with ice. Like she's hit pause. I haven't seen her use any other attack yet, however I will keep viewers updated until the dynamic duo arrives. I have checked the vitals of a victim, and they seem to be breathing just fine – oh shit!'

Ladybug landed on a roof just in time to see Alya dodge the Hourglass' beam of yellow light. She hissed to herself, frustrated at Alya's lack of concern for her own safety.

'I'm okay, viewers, but I can see... yes, Chat Noir is on the scene!'

Ladybug watched as her leather-clad partner swung in smoothly, and planted two feet in the akuma victims back, sending her stumbling forward.

Since she had grown to be the height of a house, the ground shook with her movements, and she breathed a sigh of relief as Chat Noir swung to a safer point.

'You're out of time,' he grinned, and Ladybug figured that was her cue.

'And Chat Noir delivers yet another cringeworthy pun,' Alya reported.

While Hourglass was distracted, Ladybug swung her yoyo and pitched herself off the building. She copied Chat Noir exactly, pushing both her feet into the akuma's back. Startled, it swung around.

'How dare you!' she screeched, kicking out at the hero with her giant feet. Ladybug sidestepped the attack at the last moment and slipped around her enemy to join Chat Noir.

'Nice of you to join us, My Lady,' he greeted, and she swatted him on the shoulder.

'Do we know anything about her?' Ladybug asked, and Chat shook his head.

'Only that she's got big feet and she doesn't like it when I tease her,'

'And that she can turn you into a statue,' she murmured.

'She's a student, Sandy Denton, buried under year twelve deadlines. She's struggling with school, apparently, but normally she'd calm and collected. Hawkmoth has obviously promised her more time in order to get her assignments done,' Alya's voice informed them over their earpieces.

'Any idea where the akuma is?' Chat asked.

'I'm working on it, calm your whiskers,' she fired back.

Alya had known their identities for some time now, and she had proved to be an invaluable ally in the fight against Hawkmoth.

'Thanks Alya, try to steer clear of the action,'

'As if!'

'We need to get her out in the open,' Chat called, and Ladybug nodded.

'Okay, time to be annoying, kitty,' she said with a smirk, and Chat saluted her before diving in front of the villain.

'Hourglass, right? No way, it's amazing who you just run into on the streets,' he called, tail curling with delight. He was in his element, clearly.

'I'm getting tired of you, furball,' she hissed, holding out her hand. The deadly yellow light shot forward, and Chat Noir smoothly backflipped away.

'Gonna have to be quicker than that, Sandy-pants,' he taunted, moving away and towards the river. Ladybug followed, trying to find some kind of object where the akuma might be hiding. She spied a thin gold bracelet with a charm on it dangling from Hourglass' wrist, and grinned.

Bingo.

'Chat Noir,' she said quietly, as not to alert the akuma of her presence. 'I found the akuma, I think it's in her bracelet... if I put her on the ground, you reckon you could grab it?'

'Be careful, LB, it seems awfully easy,' he replied.

'I'll be fine, just keep her distracted and I'll try and get the bracelet,' she replied. She followed on the rooftops of Paris, gesturing for citizens to be quiet and go back indoors, and subtly keeping an eye on Alya, all the while waiting for an opening to snatch the bracelet.

Hourglass stopped, and a few bursts of yellow light froze a few civilians. Ladybug grit her teeth. It had to be now.

She threw herself at the akuma, planning to snatch the bracelet, but Hourglass caught her at the last minute. Literally caught her, in her giant hands.

'Nice try, little bug but it won't be that easy...' she grinned.

'Chat Noir! Go now,' Alya said over the earpiece, and Ladybug watched with pride as her partner leapt up and snatched the bracelet from the villain's wrist. She stared at him furiously raising her palm in an attempt to stop him. Chat Noir broke the charm on the bracelet, but nothing happened. No butterfly. He glared up at Hourglass.

'You know, they say cats have nine lives... shall we test that theory?'

A beam of white light shot forward to hit Chat Noir right in the chest. It blew Hourglass backwards, and Ladybug hit the ground hard, knocking the breath out of her. When the light had disappeared, so had Hourglass. Chat Noir lay on the pavement, and Ladybug raced over to him. He was breathing, thank god, but barely conscious.

'Is he okay?' Alya asked, her voice frantic.

'I think so,' Ladybug replied. 'I have to get him out of the public eye,'

'I'll send Nino around,'

'Thanks Alya,'

Nino helped Ladybug move the unconscious Chat Noir into his car, and she watched his transformation melt away.

Adrien had a bruise welling up on his chest and neck. Whatever that power was, it had hurt him pretty bad. Ladybug dropped her transformation too, and Marinette crawled over to the front seat, nursing both Tikki and Plagg.

'Is he okay?' Nino asked, mirroring Alya's words.

'No idea, but we have to get him home. If he hasn't changed in a few hours, we'll take him to the hospital.'

'Shit,' Nino muttered, taking a side street. 'We've been waiting for the day Hawkmoth was too strong,'

'He's not too strong. We took a hit, and we just need to regroup... it'll be fine,' Marinette replied, pulling the earpiece out. 'He's going to be fine,'

#

 ** _Paris 2016 – The Present_**

25 year old Adrien woke with a pounding headache. He sat up, and realised that he felt strange. He felt small, weak.

Getting out of his bed, he realised that it was his old bed, in his old room. Why was he here?

Concern for Ladybug struck him like a truck. He ran to his closet and caught sight of himself in the mirror.

The reflection staring back at him was 15 years old.

Fuck.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter Two; Paris 2016 - The Present_**

Adrien followed the familiar path down to the bakery. Plagg was firing question after question, asking about the future. Adrien was as vague as possible, too intent on finding Marinette. His legs were shorter, he wasn't as fit as he was used to being. By the time he reached the bakery he was out of breath. How embarrassing.

'Hi Tom, Sabine… is Marinette here?' he greeted, and the pair looked at him strangely.

'Uh… hello Adrien. No, she's left for school… you should probably head off too, you're already quite late,' Sabine replied, giving him a friendly smile. Adrien groaned. School. He'd forgotten about that.

'Right, well thanks anyway,' he said, and left with a wave. He checked his phone – ah shit. School had already started. Not that it mattered, once his future Ladybug cleansed the akuma that had sent him back here and used her lucky charm, then it would all go back to normal.

The blonde model stormed into his school grumbling. His legs were too short. How had he ever survived having such short bloody legs. He pushed open the door to his classroom and immediately met young Marinette's gaze. The bluenette blushed bright red and became very interested in her tablet. The action startled him.

He was used to her dazzling smile, a cheeky wink maybe. Alya nudged her friend with a grin, and Adrien realised he was staring.

'…Mr Agreste, are you going to stand there all day, or will you be joining us at some point today?'

'Yes… sorry,' he replied, not taking his eyes off of Marinette. He slipped into his seat and realised that he didn't have his tablet or a notebook or anything.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder, and he turned to see Alya offering him a notebook and a pen. He smiled thankfully at her, and at Marinette as well for good measure. The poor girl nearly died on the spot. Adrien turned around and smirked to himself. This was much more fun than he remembered school being.

'Dude, are you okay?' Nino asked in a hushed whisper. 'It's not like you to go out of your way to embarrass poor Marinette…'

'I didn't embarrass her,' Adrien countered, taking down scrappy notes so he didn't get into trouble.

'She's a puddle, dude,' Nino said. 'Come on, I didn't think you were the kind of guy to mess with her just because she has a crush on you…'

'I'm not messing with her!' Adrien replied with a frown.

'Adrien, Nino, if you continue to be disruptive I will separate the two of you,' Ms Bustier told them. The pair fell silent, and Adrien suffered through simple problems he could solve in his sleep until lunchtime. The bell rang, and he dawdled around waiting for the room to empty. As Marinette passed him, he grabbed her by the arm.

'Hey Marinette,' he said with a warm smile. 'Do you want to go to lunch with me? There's something I want to talk to you about,'

'O-oh? Yeah, sure, yes Adrien! Yes I will lunch… Lunch sounds… Uh, excellent!' she bumbled, and her face went as red as her Ladybug suit.

'Great, let's go!'

'R-right now?'

'It's lunchtime…' Adrien said, offering her his arm. Marinette took it, and threw a flustered 'help me' look over her shoulder at Alya, who merely gave her a thumbs up.

'Of course,' was all she said, and Adrien led her out of the classroom. He couldn't help but grin at the loud sound of Alya cheering to Nino, and he swore Marinette shrunk a little more in embarrassment. As adorable as she was like this, Adrien missed the fire of his lady, his Marinette. The one who threw pillows at him and teased him. The one he got to wake up to every morning.

He led her around the corner to the park, where he bought them both lunch from a passing vendor, and he suggested they sit on the grass by the Ladybug and Chat Noir statue.

'So…what did you want to talk to me about?' Marinette asked, and Adrien came to the realisation that this young girl had no idea what kind of bombshell he was about to drop on her.

'Well, it's a delicate subject… But I need you to understand that I'm not crazy… I'm not drunk or delusional, I'm telling you the truth… I will always tell you the truth, Marinette…' he said. Marinette frowned in confusion.

'Okay…' 'Firstly, I want you to know that I'm Chat Noir,' he began quietly, looking intently into her large blue eyes. The reaction was instantaneous. Her back stiffened, her eyes widened and began tracing his features, trying to put the two people together in her head. You couldn't, that he already knew. Unless you had seen the other person transform, the magic always interfered.

'And,' he added before she could say anything. 'I know you're Ladybug,'

#

 ** _Paris 2026 – Ten years in the future_**

Adrien kept his eyes squeezed shut in the hopes that it would stop the pounding in his head. He pulled his covers up to his chin and rolled over with a moan.

'Adrien? Are you awake?' He cracked open an eye to see a woman standing at the foot of his bed. She was in her mid twenties, her dark hair swept up into a messy bun held up with a pencil. Her bright blue eyes looked oddly familiar. He realised that he wasn't in his room, or any room that he knew, and sat up slowly, taking in his surroundings.

It was a small bedroom, with a wooden chest of drawers at the opposite end of the bed. The walk in closet to his left was huge, full of clothes for both men and women, and another door was next to it, an ensuite he assumed. The wall to his right was a large window, the light blocked out by heavy green curtains.

'You gotta talk to me, Adrien,' the woman urged, sitting beside him and touching his forehead. Her skin was cool against his, and he relaxed a little.

'Marinette? Is he awake?' asked a small voice, and Adrien looked down to see a small, red creature sitting on the bed beside him. He jumped a little with surprise, but said nothing. It had a large head, big eyes and reminded him of Plagg. Wait, Marinette?

'Can you go get Plagg, Tikki?' Marinette said quietly, and Adrien shook his head.

'Where am I?' he asked, sitting up. Realising he was shirtless, he promptly dragged the doona up to his chin to cover himself. Marinette eyed him strangely, concern in her wide blue eyes.

'You're at home, the akuma got away,' she said quietly. 'I was going to give you another hour before I took you to the hospital,'

'Akuma?' Adrien asked, realisation dawning on him. 'You… you know that I'm Chat Noir,'

Marinette frowned at him, confused. 'Of course I know… you told me, remember?'

'No,' Adrien replied honestly, sinking into the bed.

'No?' Marinette repeated.

'Memory loss?' the red creature - Tikki - quizzed, entering the room again, followed by Plagg. Adrien put the pieces together quite quickly considering he felt like a truck had run over his brain.

'You're Ladybug,' he murmured. 'It was you the whole time…'

'What have you done to yourself?' Plagg asked him with a signature scowl.

'I have no idea what's going on, yesterday I was in my house and now I've woken up here,' Adrien replied.

'That's stupid. Yesterday you fought an akuma and it beat the whiskers off you,' Plagg replied.

'Adrien, what's the date?' Marinette asked quickly.

'Uh, the fifth of May, I think? Maybe the sixth?' he replied.

'Year?'

'2016,'

'Shit,'

* * *

 **A/N; Hey everybody!**  
 **Here's chapter two, I promise they're getting longer as we go on.**  
 **Please note; this fic will not be overly sinful. It's just weird with the age differences and frankly I'm not cool with that.**  
 **It will, however, be a total fluff-fest.**  
 **ALSO it's my birthday, and you can't not leave a lovely little review on my birthday, right?**  
 **I hope you all enjoy x**  
 **Love SC**


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